Page 120 of Absorbed

“I’ll leave you,” his grandmother said. “Pop and I will just be in the other room if you need us, Marky.”

Chad and Stacey looked at each other, grinning.

“Marky?” Chad teased under his breath.

They pulled chairs out and sat across from Mark at the table.

“Hey, guys,” Mark said, cracking his familiar grin. “Whatcha doin’ here?”

“No one was answering your phone,” Chad started. “Stacey promised Jess she’d get in touch with you. I offered to help, since I remembered where you lived from that time we….” Chad quickly glanced around, then gestured smoking weed with his middle finger and thumb so the grandparents wouldn’t hear.

Mark smiled and nodded. He pushed back until his chair leaned on two legs, his arms crossed.

“Jessie really wants you to go see him at the hospital.” Stacey chimed in. “That’s why we came to find you. Your grandma sawus sitting in my car in your driveway.” Stacey gestured over her shoulder. “She invited us inside.”

Mark appeared entertained by their rambling, but offered no explanation.

After several seconds of silence, the only sound coming from a timer ticking in the kitchen, Stacey became annoyed. “Are you okay?”

Mark nodded enthusiastically, but said nothing.

Chad and Stacey stared back at him, expectantly, then at each other, confused.

Stacey tossed her hands up in exasperation. “Well, if you’re fine, then why’d you disappear? You didn’t even say goodbye.”

“Yeah, man, why didn’t you answer the phone, or call any of us?”

Mark took a deep breath and dropped the front legs of his chair to the ground. He rubbed his hands on his thighs. “I…went to rehab. I got back Wednesday from two weeks at a place in the desert. I’m seventeen days sober.”

“Seriously?”Stacey asked. “Does Bob know?”

“Good for you, man,” Chad said.

Mark chuckled. “Thanks. Uh…yeah…Bob knows. But,” he rubbed his hand through his now shorter hair, “my parents are really embarrassed by this whole thing. They asked him to respect our privacy and keep it confidential. They’re pretending we all went on a last-minute vacation. They dropped me off in the morning and then went straight to the airport and flew to Hawaii. They get back tonight.”

“How do you feel?” Stacey asked.

“Pretty good, I think,” Mark said. “I mean EVERYTHING hurts, all the time. But I understand now that’s normal. I have to keep telling myself the pain is more of a thought than a reality.” Mark pulled a pack of gum out of his pocket and unwrapped apiece. He offered the pack to them before setting it on the table. “At least I’m not always half-asleep anymore.”

Mark leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, smoothing the metallic paper between his fingers while he talked. The gesture reminded Stacey of Jessie’s gum wrapper airplane that night at the movies. A lifetime ago. Her chest ached.

“There were a bunch of people in my program out there who got addicted to pain meds, like me,” Mark continued. “I guess doctors are just starting to understand how the pills make your body believe it’s in more pain than it is. It takes awhile for the brain to stop telling your body it hurts so much. I just gotta push through.” Mark crumpled the wrapper and dropped it on the table. He leaned back again in his seat, shoving his hands in his pockets. “But, if I’m not asleep and I’m not eating, I’m not sure what to do to distract myself from the pain.”

Stacey noticed how Mark’s cheeks had filled out, and the purple pools beneath his eyes had puffed into bags.

“That sucks. I’m so sorry. So…what now?” Chad asked. “I’m sure you’ve heard about The Plunge closing for good?”

“Yeah…I heard.” Mark exhaled. “I can’t stay around here anyway. It wouldn’t be long before I reconnect with the same people I’ve gotten high with and pills from for years. That won’t work.”

Stacey nodded.

“I’m gonna try community college again,” Mark said. “But I’m going to move in with my uncle in Louisiana. He’s been sober twenty-six years, so…he knows.” Mark nodded toward the living room. “This is nothing new to my grandparents. Anyway, there’s a school out there that has a sports medicine program. I figure maybe I could study that, understand my own injuries and get back into the football sidelines or something. Maybe help injured players not get into a situation like I did.”

“That’s a great plan, Mark,” Stacey said. “You should be proud of yourself.”

A stern look of disappointment clouded over Mark’s expression. “I’m a long way from being proud of myself. I have a lot to forgive myself for.” Mark leaned forward, staring at his clasped hands. “Like Jessie, for starters.”

“What do you mean, ‘Like Jessie?’” Chad asked.

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